French Cancan
Snails in Cases with Herbs
"Aniseed Butter"
or
Vegetable Soup
or
Encrusted Poultry Pate, Parslied Gelee
***
Plancha of Sea Trout with Leeks,
"Potato" Sauce
or
Traditional Veal "Blanquette",
Rice Pilaw
***
"Bourbon" Mille-Feuille
or
Vanilla Ice Cream Cup with Chantilly Cream

Menu Toulouse-Lautrec
Norvegian Smoked Salmon
or
Fresh Duck Foie Gras
***
Nems of King-Crab with Vegetables,
Spiced Tomato Salsa
or
Medallion of Veal Fillet Sauted,
Caramelized Raw and
Cooked Endives
***
Banana Pana-Cotta, "Passion Fruit" Coulis
or
Pose - Scented Macaroon, Lychee Sorbet
or
Cocoa Cream Desert, Sweet "Chesnut Cream"

Menu Belle Epoque
Fricassee of Lobster and Herbs,
"Red" Stock Sauce
or
Sliced Sole Fillets with "La Goulue" Caviar,
Champagne Sauce
***
Shin of Lamb with Herbs,
or
Beef Fillet "Rossini",
"Lyonnaise" Potatoes,
"Perigueux" Wine Sauce
***
Rum Savarin, Fruit Compote
or
"Very Dark" Chocolate Crunch

Carefree life, Flickleness and Joie de Vivre. Those are the three words that could best sum up this unique period in the History of France. It was a rest between two wars, a period of transition between two centuries, during which the social barriers collapsed, when the industrial revolution gave hope of a better life for all, in a rich cultural profusion and that promised much fun.

The middle-class mixed with the riffraff, the popular culture was enhanced in a contented disorder full of joy and vitality. In that atmosphere, which flavoured artistic creativity, literary circles appeared and disappeared according to people 'meetings, while painters and drawers got especially inspired by this joyful, sometimes outrageous but full of fancy atmosphere that broke completely with the rigid classicism of that period.

The Japonism, a movement of Far-East inspiration using influences from the Japanese style in French Art, was at its height. Toulouse-Lautrec and his famous Japanese engravings was one of the most famous disciples of that time. The atmosphere fitted perfectly to the appearance of the first cabarets, such as the Moulin Rouge in 1889.

The Opening
At the foot of Butte Montmartre, the atmosphere was pretty festive: a new music-hall was opening in the Jardin de Paris, the Moulin Rouge, and it wasn't going unnoticed.The public came in mass to Place Blanche, to discover this extravagant place with its huge dance floor, mirrors everywhere, and galleries that were the last word in elegance, to mix with the riffraff and girls of easy virtue, in a garden decorated with a big elephant with rides on donkeys for the ladies' pleasure. There was such a wild atmosphere that the show was not only on the stage but all around : aristocrats and louts in caps had fun side by side, in an atmosphere of total euphoria. The masters of the place were Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler. They nicknamed their establishment Le Premier Palais des Femmes (the first Women Palace) and bet on their success, enthusiastically claiming to whoever listened that the Moulin Rouge would become a temple of music and dance.

The Can Can
The balls at the Moulin Rouge quickly became highly prized events.

For the grand finale, the public discovered, with overwhelming enthusiasm, a new dance, the French Cancan with its dancers, the Chahuteuses (the unruly girls), and its boisterous rhythm, which, to the great displeasure of some people, really made heads turn. In the Guide to Paris nightlife, edition 1898, the French Cancan dancers are described as an army of young girls in Paris who dance this divine hullabaloo the way its fame demands it, with such an elasticity when they launch their legs upwards that we are allowed to presume that they are at least as flexible with morals. Amongst these figureheads of Parisian life, some will go down in history, like the famous La Goulue, immortalized by Toulouse-Lautrec.

Under colourful and rather roguish stage names, the most famous dancers of that time competed on the stage of the Moulin Rouge, each one with her own temperament. The undisputed figurehead of the French Cancan is still today the famous Goulue, with her inimitable cheeky humour. But she was not the only one who won fame thanks to the Cancan : there were Jane Avril also known as Jeanne la Folle (crazy Jane), La Mome Fromage named so since she was so young, Grille d'Egout (gutter grate), who was well-known for her taste for uproar, Nini Pattes-en-l'Air ('legs in the air') who would open a French Cancan school, and Yvette Guilbert, a famous national fortune-teller who imitated Sarah Bernhardt.

The only notorious male character among the flowing rows of girls was Valentin le Desosse (the 'boneless') also called L'Homme du Quadrille (the Quadrille man), who will never be bettered in the way he had of making the girls dance.

Toulouse-Lautrec, one of the more regular clients, was the great witness of this splendid period. Among his paintings, seventeen are directly inspired by the Moulin Rouge, and many are famous world-wide. They represent emblematic characters. Undoubtedly, Toulouse-Lautrec would not have become who he was without the Moulin Rouge and La Goulue.

The First 10 years
The first ten years of the Moulin Rouge led, from one to another in a whirlpool of, ever more extravagant nights. It was inspired by the circus, whose attractions were shown at the cabaret - such as that of the Petomane (the 'farting' man), who went down in history.

In addition to the French Cancan, the first real revues are performed: e.g. the revue Circassiens et Circassiennes, in 1890. Every night, people come for the 10 p.m concerts; the Quat'zarts ball and its procession; a nude Cleopatra carried by four men and surrounded by nude girls who lay, languid, on flower beds.

A beginning trumpeted that lost some of its pomp by the new century. On the 26 December 1902, the last ball occurred in general indifference. The Quadrille was no longer fashionable, the ball of the Moulin Rouge became a concert-theatre under the leadership of M. Paul-Louis Flers, a well-known revue-director in Paris who wanted to turn the Moulin Rouge into a more prestigious place.

The 1900s
Until the beginning of World War I, the Moulin Rouge had become a true temple dedicated to operetta. There again, the music of Offenbach used to accompany successive shows in lightness, contentment and joy : the public was present for dreaming, laughing, crying and feel emotions at the sight of 'Voluptata', 'La Feuille de Vigne', 'Le Reve d'Egypte', 'Tais-toi tu m'affoles', and many other revues with titles each time more evocative.

The Automotive Fair on the 7th December 1904, many people from upper-classes gathered, who sang, danced and regretted the end of a so delightful night. Whereas in 1907, the charming novice Mistinguett, made her debuts on the stage of the Moulin Rouge in 'La Revue de la Femme'. That was only the beginning of the long story. Quickly, her exceptional talent blasted in public : as she imitates the langourous jig of Max Dearly, she was the instigator of the famous Valse Chaloupee (swaying waltz) and then became a shining Star in the Music-Hall's firmament.

World War 1
After World War I, Francis Salabert ran the Moulin Rouge. Since he was more of a businessman than a showman, he employed Pierre Foucret to hold the purse strings and left Jacques-Charles - the No. 1 revue-director of that time - the assignment of brightening up the "Great Revue". He dreamt of setting-up a show with american dancing-girls. After much discussion, he succeeded in convincing Gertrude Hoffmann, then director of the Hoffmann ballet, to join him, and they started to create the revue 'New York- Montmartre'. At the top of the bill were the Dolly Sisters, Rosy and Jenny, the first twin sisters in the history of music-hall. The 'Broadway style' made a big impact when it entered the Parisian scene.

On the night of the first show, Mistinguett, then known as the Queen of Music-Hall, was in the audience. She understood at once that a true revolution was happening.

Jacques-Charles and Mistinguett had a stormy but very profitable relationship. Very close to each other in life and inspired co-workers on the stage, their story was punctuated with quarrels and make-ups, with disputes and reconciliation's... A turbulent passion that gave birth to legendary creations : the "Revue Mistinguett" in 1925, the famous 'Ca c'est Paris' in 1926 and many others. Great Nights with the Miss and her Girls, animated the Parisian nights until 1929, when the two main characters retired from the stage.

Meanwhile, the French Cancan, which had regained prestige, was turning the public's head in the Ballroom, in the lower ground floor of the Moulin Rouge. A certain Gesmar, only 20 years old, became a master in costume making. His drawings and models, which displayed pure and breathtaking beauty, remained associated with the Moulin Rouge's image. During that time, a young man named Gabin was making his debut on stage as the quintessential 'badboy' in Paris.

After Mistinguett's departure, nothing would ever be the same in the world of music-hall. The 7th Art - as French people call the cinema - overwhelmed the 'Great Revues' and the ballroom became an ultra modern night-club.. however, the Moulin Rouge still had some great moments: the acclaimed Cotton Club, which had had great success in New York, the nights with Ray Ventura and his Collegiens, some unforgettable moments before the dark years to come. 1939-1945 : Paris did not have much fun under the German's heel. The only ray of sunshine, a few days before the Liberation of Paris, was Edith Piaf, whose talent was becoming renowned, image who sang on the stage of the Moulin Rouge. In the first part of her show, a young man with a kind of "Cow Boy" was scheduled... Yves Montand. She later said about him : 'this guy who behaves as if he was in the plains of the Far West is nothing but a singer from Marseille, the height of vulgarity He said in return that she was a merchant of depression. Exchange of kind words. but the Great Lady was not long to understand the potential of this lanky boy, who needed just a little help to change his appearance. Later on, he admitted then she had made him save time.